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Matlidas squad named for Korea friendly

The Matildas will blend youth and experience when they take on Korea Republic in their final hit out before the Olympic qualifying tournament next weekend.

Of the 20-player squad, six players have less than 10 caps, including Newcastle Jets trio Tara Andrews (1 cap), Chloe Logarzo (2) and Georgia Yeoman-Dale (4). Logarzo will take the place of Perth Glory’s injured forward Sam Kerr.

The squad feature plenty of Matildas stalwarts, such as Lisa De Vanna, Clare Polkinghorne, Kyah Simon, Caitlin Munoz, Emily van Egmond and Elise Kellong-Knight – the latter two travelling to Icheon from their respective clubs in Germany, FFC Frankfurt and Postdam FC.

Head coach Alen Stajcic, who was at Lambert Park on Sunday to run the rule over six of his charges, said the game is an important opportunity to assess his squad against one of the teams likely to battle for two Olympic spots in the Asian qualifiers.

“A number of the girls have been doing well in the W-League this season but it all goes up to another level when you play internationals so this trip will give us an indication of how we are tracking with our preparations and also find out which players really want to push their claims to be part of the Olympic qualifiers,” Stajcic said.

“We need to keep building and developing more depth in the squad to make sure we’ve got healthy competition for places which in turn will push players to keep getting better and not rest on their laurels.”

Australian based players will depart for Incheon on Tuesday 24 November and return home on 1 December.

The club that has the most Matildas is W-League frontrunner Melbourne City with De Vanna, Laura Alleway, Stephanie Catley and Larissa Crummer. Fortuitously, City have a bye next weekend, so will be less affected than the likes of Newcastle United, Sydney FC, Canberra United and Brisbane Roar, who each have three players on national duty.